Been watching the former Bowery space on McKinney Avenue? It is now transitioning into a new restaurant the owners call Belly & Trumpet. Oak owners Richard & Tiffanee Ellman are teaming up once again with John Paul Valverde (who recently opened Outpost American Tavern in Oak Cliff) to create their take on small plates and they are bringing in big guns for the back of the house.

Look for Brian Zenner to take lead role as executive chef. Zenner most recently was chef de cuisine at Oak and worked at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. Zenner is bringing in another young gun from the Mansion, Rudy Mendoza who has been working at the upscale hotel restaurant since the Tesar era.

“With Belly &Trumpet, we are striving to extend beyond the ordinary in everything we do. We are challenging ourselves to be inventive and thoughtful, often taking a classic favorite and adding an exciting twist. Regardless, our primary goal is for our food to be consistently soulful and delicious,” said Zenner in a recent release.

The General Manager, Adam Karpf was most recently the manager at Michelin rated Spiaggia in Chicago, and prior to that he was a manager at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. Thus Belly & Trumpet reunites Zenner, Karpf and Mendoza in a setting where their teamwork and collaboration will serve them well in creating the social, shared experience of Belly & Trumpet.